Corona easing: The desire for a respite must not come at the expense of others – politics

There are some things that are particularly difficult to accept for two-year-olds: For example, they cannot put on their bathing suit and then roll around in the snow. In purely practical terms, that would be possible. But every father and mother will prevent it. You can’t have everything in life: as joyless it sounds, it is also true. Anyone who has reached adulthood should have learned it.

The current debates about corona easing, on the other hand, boil down to giving the two-year-old a cold shower before jumping into the snow in her swimsuit. Masks, tests, contact restrictions: ideally everything should be reduced.

[Lesen Sie hier bei T-Plus: Das Leben nach Corona und die Frage: Sind wir noch gesellschaftsfähig?]

Many people are only too happy about these impulses. This results from relief and joy and is only too understandable. An espresso in the café feels like a short break in Rome after the pandemic winter. The Berlinale is tempting, as is the public viewing for the EM. Everything as before. And so suddenly. The masks in particular are debated. They are the ultimate symbol of the pandemic. If they disappear, it’s all over. Oh, how nice it would be.

However, it is not the task of politics to make the population happy, but to govern well. Right now, this includes being able to differentiate wisely. Each measure depends on how much it restricts people on the one hand and how much it contributes to fighting pandemics on the other. Masks hardly restrict personal freedom, but at least prevent many infections indoors. Abolishing the mask requirement on a large scale would therefore be wrong.

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Tests are also cumbersome, but do not restrict freedom. If masks and tests make it possible to enjoy culture and get-togethers without risk to health, it would be unwise to do without them.

And even if such a waiver may be justifiable now in view of the pleasingly low incidences, depending on the situation: Politicians arouse expectations that they may soon have to disappoint. Britain has postponed the day on which all restrictions fall – because of the dangerous Delta variant. Of course, it will also spread in Germany.

The delta effect cannot be foreseen precisely

But again, the summer is celebrated. In the medium term, for example, the infections that develop increase the risk for children who sit together in the classroom without vaccination. The same applies to all those adults for whom a vaccine is not yet available. The desire for a respite must not come at the expense of others.

Last autumn you could see how the number of infections suddenly rose rapidly. Fortunately, the situation is different today thanks to the vaccination campaign. However, the delta effect cannot be precisely predicted. In addition, the virus is under selection pressure, precisely because many people have already been vaccinated. This can promote variants that circumvent the protection provided by previous vaccinations. This is also why it makes sense to keep the number of infections as low as possible. The pandemic has struck many volts since spring 2020. Sometimes the public was amazed at how fast the numbers rose, and now they are amazed at how fast they are falling. The overarching lesson should be: caution wins. And the message to the population must still be: This pandemic is not over.